Don’t you just love the list of all the things that happened during 2018? Here’s my list of all the things/people/events I am grateful for this year.

The members of the Justice Committees – Eco Justice, Immigration Reform, Human Trafficking and Peace and Nonviolence – who work to keep the congregation and associates informed and active. Thank you to the chairs who keep the committees running smoothly.

The many secular and religious groups that study issues of injustice and educate us on how to work for justice such as LCWR, Network and Ohio Nuns on the Bus, Dominican North American Justice Promoters, Farm Research and Action Center, Human Rights Watch, Interfaith Power and Light, USCCB Justice for Immigrants, Catholic Climate Covenant, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, BREAD, American Friends Service Committee, Win Without War, Death Penalty Action, Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking and many others.

Faith in Public Life, especially the Ohio Chapter where interfaith leaders in Columbus meet regularly to address issues around Columbus.

The DSP Communication Department – Alice, Dee, and Ashley – who have been essential in getting the word out about our justice actions.

That the midterms are over, voter turnout was one of the highest ever including 3.3 million voters aged 18-29, a 188% increase over 2014, that Farm Bill passed with provisions protecting SNAP, and that the incoming representatives are talking about finally passing some gun safety legislation, that despite the U.S. pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, many cities, educational institutions, businesses, and religious organizations are still committed to the principals of this accord.

And finally, my gratitude to all the sisters and associates who have been active in writing, calling, and/or walking for justice. You make my job worthwhile. Let’s keep it up in 2019!

I attended Mass at one of our surrounding churches for the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The homily was another scholarly definition of the Immaculate Conception which certainly is confusing for many people. But I found myself wanting something more… some suggestions on how this concept of Mary being born without the stain of original sin impacted me… how it affected my life… what did it really mean. As I pondered this, it occurred to me that God ‘stacked the deck’ in Mary’s favor so that she would say ‘yes’ to God’s invitation to birth the divine. Without original sin, there was no roadblock to Mary’s willingness to participate in the incarnation. She still could say ‘no’ – still had free will- but there was nothing to get in the way of ‘yes.’

In the Incarnation, God has stacked the deck in our favor also. When God became a human person, we caught a glimpse of what true humanity looks like. We see how God would like us to relate to one another….how we should act… what we should do. At one point, I would have said, the Incarnation shows us what we have to do to get to heaven. But that’s not correct, since heaven – unity with God – is pure gift. But Jesus’ modeling of how we should live our lives does show us how to be truly happy.

Many people in our world today feel that the deck is stacked against them. Men and women living in war torn, violent, or poverty stricken cities. Parents who can’t afford insurance for their families. High school students who fear another shooting in their schools. People who are discriminated against because of the color of their skin, the religion they practice, the nation of their birth. Environmentalists who see safeguards that protect the earth eroded. Women caught in the pain of addiction and trafficking. There are many more.

The Incarnation can speak to these people as well. God coming to dwell with us speaks of hope – hope that humanity is worth investing in…. hope that relationships can be forged between peoples who have different faiths and beliefs and cultures…hope that the good in people will overcome the bad…hope that people of privilege will speak out for those who have none.

As we begin another year, let us look to the Incarnation and recognize that God has stacked the deck in favor of humanity and work to make that a reality for all.

Sr. Elizabeth Jackson, OP, made her Perpetual Vows as a Dominican Sister of Peace in a beautiful December 2, 2018, Mass in the chapel at the Congregation’s Motherhouse in Oxford, MI.

Sisters Aimee Ryan and Rebecca Nolan witnessed Sr. Elizabeth’s vows in a ceremony by the Dominican Sisters of Peace Vocations team and Sister Pat Twohill. The Mass was presided over by Monsignor Frank P. Lane of the Columbus, OH, diocese, and music was provided by Christine Heber of the St. Dominic’s Chapel Choir.

During the ceremony, Sr. Elizabeth professed the vows of obedience, celibacy, and poverty to God, accepting a ring as a token of God’s love, and a candle to represent the light of Christ within her and all people.

Sr. Elizabeth graduated from the College of St. Mary of the Springs (now Ohio Dominican University) in 1965 and from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1975. As a psychiatrist, Sr. Elizabeth practiced in Ohio, Massachusetts and Florida. She worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs and specialized in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. In 2007, she became the Chief of Mental Health at the Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory Care Center in Columbus and then was Acting Chief of Staff until her retirement in 2012.

Sr. Patricia Twohill, Prioress of the Dominican Sisters of Peace, presents Sr. Elizabeth Jackson with a ring representing the endless nature of God’s love during her perpetual profession ceremony.

A Columbus, OH, native, Sr. Elizabeth is the daughter of J. Harry and Marian Jackson (both deceased). Prior to entering the Dominican Sisters of Peace, she belonged to St. Margaret of Cortona Church in the Columbus, OH, Diocese, where she served as organist from 2007 to 2015.

Sr. Elizabeth has ministered as a volunteer in the Pastoral Care Dept. at Lourdes Senior Community, Waterford, MI, since 2017. She serves as an organist at Lourdes Senior Community as well as the Sunday liturgies at the Oxford Motherhouse. Sr. Elizabeth also serves on the Advisory Board for the Dominican Learning Center, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Peace that offers adult education, ESL and citizenship classes.

Last Monday, December 10, was the 70th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was drafted in 1948 by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world: Dr. Charles Malik (Lebanon), Alexandre Bogomolov (USSR), Dr. Peng-chun Chang (China), René Cassin (France), Eleanor Roosevelt (US), Charles Dukes (United Kingdom), William Hodgson (Australia), Hernan Santa Cruz (Chile), John P. Humphrey (Canada). The United Nations General Assembly in Paris formally approved it on Dec. 10, 1948, as a declaration of principles, a common standard for all peoples and all nations, listing fundamental human rights to be universally protected.

In 2009 on a visit to the Empire State Building in New York City, I was inspired as I read the Universal Human Rights displayed artistically on one of its walls. But I became more and more uneasy as I noted that we still have miles to go, until our actions match our words.

Long before the Declaration of Human Rights was written down, President Abraham Lincoln believed in his heart that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”[Article I of UDHR]. Nearing the 3rd year of the Civil War, he bravely issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring “that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward, shall be free.”

However, enslavement continues. And it takes many shapes around the world as well as in our own so called ‘land of the free’–human trafficking, debt bondage, unjust imprisonment, blocked access to resources and advancement opportunities, etc.

In a recent Global Sisters Report, Sr. Janet Kinney, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, New York, and the executive director of the Partnership for Global Justice, a U.N.-based advocacy organization, referring to the 70th Anniversary, notes “We still have so far to go.” “Human rights violations are widespread across the globe. Faced with the reality of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, the plight of the people of Syria, the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, migrants being turned away from our American borders, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the victims of human trafficking, the pilfering of our Earth of its natural resources — it can be overwhelming.”

But, as Lao Tzu wisely observed: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”One step—just one step at a time–makes miles to go seem more possible.

Dominican Sister of Peace Rosemarie (Margery Ann) Robinson, 89, died on December 1, 2018, at the Regina Health Care Center of the Dominican Sisters of Peace in Akron, OH. Described as “gracious, kindly, diligent, wise, competent, capable, good-humored, generous, ingenious, and outstanding,” Sr. Rosemarie celebrated 70 years of religious life this year.

Born in Youngstown, OH, in 1929, Sr. Rosemarie was one of nine children born to Anne Helbig and George Robinson. She entered religious life in 1946, following the example of her sister, Sr. Bernadine, who is also a Dominican Sister of Peace.

Sister Rosemarie earned her Bachelor of Science in Education in 1958 and her Master of Science in Education in 1966 from St. John College of Cleveland. True to the Dominican charism, she also continued her studies with courses at Ball State, Kent State, Siena Heights and the University of Dayton.

Sr. Rosemarie took her love of learning and study to her early ministry, serving as a teacher and educational administrator at schools in Akron, Barberton, Cleveland and Doylestown, OH. Beyond teaching her elementary and middle school students, she also served as a mentor and guide for the teachers on her staffs.

She was an active and important support to her founding congregation, the Dominican Sisters of Akron. She was elected Second Councilor in 1969, and served as President from 1973 to 1981. She was thrilled to preside over the burning of the million-dollar mortgage in 1976.

Her educational experience was put to good use as she served as business manager, personnel director and maintenance coordinator at Our Lady of the Elms, and on various committees as well.

As first Co-delegate for Religious and later Delegate for the Diocese of Cleveland, Sr. Rosemarie used her gifts of leadership and foresight to enhance the lives and spirit of the religious in the diocese. In her final years, she served the people of God and her Sisters in a ministry of prayer and presence at our Akron Motherhouse and at the Regina Care Center.

In the history of the Dominican Sisters of Akron, A Moment of Grace, Sr. Diana Culbertson, OP, wrote “Sr. Rosemarie’s years of leadership would test her skills as a calm administrator … She offered the kind of quiet steadiness at the helm that the community needed in tumultuous times. If she ever became exasperated at unpredictable events and crises that she would inevitably face, her demeanor consistently suggested that all was under control-and it usually was. ”

Sr. Rosemarie is survived by three sisters, Anita Watson, Coletta and Sister Bernadine Robinson, OP. She was preceded in death by her parents, Anne and George, her brothers, George and Richard, and three sisters, Eileen Macupa, Kathleen and Rosemary.

A Memorial Mass was be held at Our Lady of the Elms Convent Chapel in Akron, OH, on Thursday, December 6. Sr. Rosemarie was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Akron, OH.

Memorial gifts in Sr. Rosemarie Robinson’s memory may be submitted securely online at www.oppeace.org or sent to the Dominican Sisters of Peace, Office of Mission Advancement, 2320 Airport Drive, Columbus, OH 43219.